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U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


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BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


LAW  OF  IMMIGRATION 


0} 


CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


POBLISHED  BY  THE 


CONSULATE  GENERAL  AT  NEW  YORK 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


YORK  : 

Gfio.  F.  NKSBITT  A  Co.,  PRINTERS,  cou.  PKAKL  ANU  PINK  Sib. 
1879 


LAW  OF  IMMIGRATION 


i   tff 


CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 


CONSULATE  GENERAL  AT  NEW  YORK 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


NEW  YORK : 
GEO.  F.  NESBITT  &  Co.,  PRINTERS,  COR.  PEARL  AND  PINE  Sia. 

1879. 


THE  IMMIGRATION  LAW 


OF  THE 


REPUBLIC  OF  GUATEMALA, 

(CENTRAL  AMERICA.) 


OIF'F'IOI-A.U 


"I  J.  RUFINO   BARRIOS,  General  of  Division,  and  President 

3?         of  the  Republic  of  Guatemala 

WHEREAS,  The  Society  of  Immigration  has  presented  to 

the  Government  a  project  of  law  upon  the  subject  of  im- 

migration, which,  having  been  submitted  to  the  examination 

">          of  the   Supreme  Court  of  Justice,  the  Fiscal  Minister  and 

*          the    Council   of   State,    whose   judgment   was   sought   as   a 

?* 

*£          better  guarantee  of  right  legislation  upon  a  subject  of  such 
f"* 

importance,  has  received  the  concurrent  approval  of  those 

bodies  and  functionaries  ;  and 

WHEREAS,  It  will  be  highly  beneficial  to  the  public  inter- 
ests that  a  law  be  enacted  regulating  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  said  Society,  and  explicitly  declaring  the  ob- 
ligations assumed  by  the  Government  in  respect  to  immi- 
grants, as  well  as  the  rights  which  immigrants  shall  be 
permitted  to  exercise,  and  the  duties  they  shall  be  bound 


YilAJ  ''' 

4 

to  perform,  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  all  questions  that 
might  arise  in  reference  to  this  subject,  and  of  establishing 
a  permanent  basis  for  everything  pertaining  to  this  depart- 
ment, therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  my  authority,  I  do  decree 
the  following 

LAW  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

ARTICLE  i. — The  Society  of  Immigration  ordered  to  be 
established  by  Decree  of  2oth  January,  1877,  shall  continue 
to  exercise  its  functions  according  to  the  law  of  its  organiza- 
tion. 

ART.  2. — The  Society  shall  establish  a  Central  Bureau 
which,  under  its  immediate  supervision,  shall  discharge  the 
functions  assigned  to  it  by  this  present  law. 

Said  Bureau  shall  be  composed  of  the  President,  Treas- 
urer, and  Secretaries  of  the  Society.  It  shall  have  a  chief 
clerk,  who  may  be  one  of  the  Secretaries,  and  as  many  de- 
pendents and  employes  as  shall  be  necessary. 

The  appointment  of  said  chief  clerk  and  employe's  shall  be 
made  by  the  Society,  on  proposals  of  its  President,  and  their 
salaries  shall  be  fixed  in  the  same  manner. 

ART.  3. — The  funds  of  the  Society  shall  for  the  present  be 
derived  from  the  product  of  the  public  lands  and  from  other 
sources  that  may  be  designated  by  the  Government. 

ART.  4. —  In  accordance  with  the  provisions  contained  in 
Article  2  of  Decree  (No.  198)  of  25th  February,  1877,  tne 
Society  is  empowered  to  dispose  of  the  public  lands  (terrenos 
baldios,)  as  may  be  by  degrees  required,  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  important  purposes  of  its  foundation  ;  and  to  this  end  it 
shall  procure  from  the  Government  the  necessary  concessions. 


CHAPTER  II. 

OF  THE  CENTRAL  BUREAU. 

ART.  5. — This  Bureau  shall  represent  the  Society  before 
any  Tribunal,  and  before  the  departmental  or  local  authori- 
ties, whenever  they  take  cognizance  of  any  question  relative 
to  immigration  or  to  contracts  therewith  connected. 

ART.  6. — It  shall  keep  a  Register  in  which  shall  be  recorded 
the  number  of  immigrants  arriving  in  the  country,  with  a 
statement  of  their  ages,  trades,  nationality,  and  certificates  of 
good  conduct. 

ART.  7. — It  shall  also  keep  a  Register  wherein  shall  be 
entered  the  applications  for  employment  presented  by  the 
immigrants  who  may  come  without  a  formal  engagement,  or 
who  may  .be  therefrom  released,  as  well  as  the  new  contracts 
they  may  enter  into. 

ART.  8. — It  shall  propose  to  the  Society  the  establishment 
of  commissions  and  agencies  of  immigration,  designating 
the  persons  competent  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  commis- 
sioner or  agent. 

ART.  9. — It  shall  transmit  to  every  commission  or  agency 
of  immigration  established  all  orders  and  instructions  neces- 
sary to  the  best  exercise  of  its  functions  ;  and  the  said  Bureau 
is  empowered  to  attend  to  petitions  for  the  ingress  of  immi- 
grants, based  on  contracts  entered  into  with  private  parties, 
and  having  in  view  the  suitableness  of  the  seasons. ' 

ART.  10. — It  shall  likewise  give  its  attention  to  petitions 
for  situations  from  immigrants  arrived  without  a  previous 
engagement,  and  shall  endeavor  to  obtain  employment  for 
them  on  favorable  terms. 

ART.  ii. — Private  parties  desiring  to  bring  immigrants  to 
carry  out  their  enterprises,  must  previously  obtain  a  special 
permission  from  the  Government,  who  will  grant  it  on  a  re- 
port from  the  Society  of  Immigration. 


This  report  must  state  whether  the  means  at  the  disposal 
of  the  applicant  are  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  comply  with 
his  proposed  agreement ;  and  whether  the  immigrants  he 
intends  to  bring  into  the  country,  having  in  view  their  place 
of  origin  or  nationality,  would  be  easy  of  acclimation  to  the 
climate  of  the  locality  where  they  are  to  be  employed  or  not. 

ART.  12. — The  Central  Bureau  may,  in  case  of  need,  give 
the  parties  concerned  all  the  assistance  within  its  power,  and 
which  it  shall  deem  expedient,  either  through  the  medium  of 
its  agency  at  the  place  where  the  immigrants  shall  be  solicit- 
ed, or  on  their  arrival  into  the  Republic,  provided  that  the 
parties  concerned  shall  refund  to  the  treasury  of  the  Society 
any  amount  disbursed  in  their  behalf.  Moreover,  they  shall 
be  bound  to  furnish  the  Central  Bureau  with  a  list  of  individ- 
uals arrived,  stating  therein  their  ages,  trades  and  places  of 
departure,  for  the  purposes  set  forth  in  Art.  6. 

ART.  13. — The  Central  Bureau  shall  have  power  to  enter 
into  any  contracts  it  may  deem  proper  with  the  agents  or 
empresarios  of  colonization,  upon  a  basis  to  be  agreed  to  by 
the  Society,  provided  they  are  not  in  conflict  with  the  present 
law. 

ART.  14. — In  the  Capital  and  in  other  localities  where  there 
are  no  Commissioners  of  Immigration,  the  Bureau  shall  pro- 
vide board  and  lodging  for  all  immigrants  coming  on  its 
account  during  a  term  not  to  exceed  fifteen  days  ;  and  if 
unforseen  circumstances  should  require  a  longer  term,  the 
Society  shall  be  consulted  in  regard  to  the  expense  required 
by  the  prolongation  of  the  time  designated. 

ART.  15. — During  the  term  of  a  year  the  Bureau  shall  re- 
ceive the  correspondence  sent  by  or  addressed  to  the  immi- 
grants established  in  the  settlements  (reducciones),  and  shall 
send  it  to  its  destination  at  the  expense  of  the  Society. 

ART.  1 6. — Every  three  months  the  Bureau  shall  present  to 
the  Society  a  report  of  the  labors  of  the  former,  as  also  of  the 


doings  of  the  Commissions  and  agencies ;  and  every  month 
it  shall  make  a  statement  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  the 
same  Bureau,  commissions  and  agencies. 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE  AGENTS  OF  IMMIGRATION  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

§i.   Of  the  Agents  at  Home. 

ART.  17. — They  shall  diligently  endeavor,  in  their  respec- 
tive districts  to  remove  any  obstacles  whatever  tending  to 
check  the  movement  of  immigration. 

ART.  1 8. — They  shall  make  arrangements,  upon  orders  from 
the  Central  Bureau,  to  receive,  lodge,  and  give  employment 
to  the  immigrants  coming  on  account  or  through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Society,  and  shall  transport  them  to  the  place 
of  their  destination. 

ART.  19. — The  agents  residing  at  the  seaports  shall  make 
the  proper  arrangements,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  landing  of 
immigrants,  and  their  transportation  inland. 

ART.  20. — The  home  agencies  shall  report  to  the  Central 
Bureau  every  three  months  all  the  business  relative  to  immi- 
gration transacted  in  their  respective  districts,  with  a  state- 
ment of  the  number  of  immigrants  assisted  or  transported 
inland. 

ART.  21. — Every  three  months  they  shall  present  an  ac- 
count, with  its  vouchers,  of  the  disposition  of  the  funds  sup- 
plied by  the  Central  Bureau  for  the  execution  of  the  work 
confided  to  them. 

§2.   Of  the  Agents  Abroad. 

ART.  22. — Besides  the  home  agents,  the  Society  shall  have 
power  to  appoint  others  abroad,  to  reside  at  the  places  it  may 
deem  convenient. 


ART.  23.— The  salaries  of  these  agents  shall  be  fixed  by  the 
Society,  which  will  make  the  appointments  on  proposals  made 
by  the  Central  Bureau. 

ART.  24. — The  consular  agents  of  the  Republic  in  foreign 
countries,  who  are  ex-officio  corresponding  members  of  the 
same  Society,  shall  assist  the  special  agent,  if  necessary, 
and  observe  his  conduct  whilst  in  the  discharge  of  the  com- 
mission entrusted  to  him,  and  shall  communicate  to  the 
Society  everything  deserving  its  consideration. 

ART.  25. — The  agents  abroad  shall  reside  for  such  time  as 
may  be  necessary  at  the  place  where  they  must  immediately 
discharge  their  commission. 

ART.  26. — By  all  legitimate  means  within  their  reach,  they 
shall  endeavor  to  induce  immigrants  to  come  under  condi- 
tions to  be  fixed  on  asking  for  them  ;  and  generally  they  shall 
stimulate  immigration  to  the  Republic,  furnishing  informa- 
tion concerning  its  physical,  political  and  social  conditions,  as 
well  as  the  advantages  offered  to  immigrants. 

ART.  27. — They  shall  require  from  the  individuals  who  so- 
licit to  be  registered  as  immigrants,  testimonials  of  good  char- 
acter and  ability,  to  be  given  by  a  respectable  resident  of  the 
place  where  they  have  resided  during  the  last  six  months. 

ART.  28. — They  shall  issue  to  the  immigrant  who,  having 
the  required  qualifications,  may  ask  for  it,  a  certificate  wherein 
shall  be  noted  down  his  age,  sex,  trade,  nationality,  ability 
and  character. 

ART.  29. — On  embarking  immigrants  for  account  of  the 
Society,  the  agents  shall  prefer  those  vessels  which,  insuring 
safety  and  good  accommodations,  shall  charge  less  for  their 
passage,  their  owners  or  agents  having  resolved  beforehand 
to  reduce  the  rates  ;  but  they  shall  insist  on  the  strict  adher- 
ence to  the  conditions  of  the  contracts,  especially  so  far  as 
they  refer  to  the  good  treatment  of  the  immigrants  as  pas- 


9 

sengers,  and  these  in  no  case  shall  embark  in  a  larger  number 
than  can  be  comfortably  carried  by  the  ship. 

ART.  30. — They  shall  pay  the  passage  money  totally  or  in 
part,  when  authorized  to  do  so,  and  shall  enter  into  contracts 
for  the  transportation  of  immigrants,  according  to  the  instruc- 
tions they  may  receive  from  the  Central  Bureau. 

ART.  31. — They  shall  keep  a  book  wherein  shall  be  regis- 
tered all  the  business  transacted,  by  order  of  dates,  with  the 
name,  sex,  age,  trade,  and  nationality  of  every  immigrant 
shipped. 

ART.  32. — They  shall  receive  the  correspondence  sent  by 
the  Central  Bureau  for  the  families  of  the  immigrants  estab- 
lished in  the  settlements,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  same 
bureau,  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  of  Immigration,  the  cor- 
respondence sent  to  them  for  said  immigrants. 

ART.  33. — They  shall,  every  three  months,  inform  the  Cen- 
tral Bureau  of  everything  deserving  its  attention,  rendering  an 
account  of  the  disposition  of  the  funds  they  have  received, 
and  suggesting  the  measures  which,  in  their  opinion,  would 
foster  immigration  and  remove  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its 
progressive  increase. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  THE   IMMIGRANTS. 

ART.  34. — For  the  purposes  of  this  law  every  foreigner 
who,  being  a  laborer,  artizan,  factory  hand,  agriculturist,  or 
domestic  servant,  being  less  than  fifty  years  of  age,  and 
giving  testimonials  of  his  morality  and  abilities,  shall  come 
to  the  Republic  on  his  own  account,  or  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society,  or  of  private  parties,  shall  be  considered  an  immi- 
grant. 

ART.  35. — Heads  of  families,  having  at  least  two  able-bodied 
sons,  shall  be  considered  as  immigrants,  even  if  they  exceed 
the  age  aforesaid. 


IO 

ART.  36. — Every  immigrant,  having  obtained  a  certificate 
of  immigration,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  following  general  ad- 
vantages or  privileges : 

ist.  To  be  embarked  in  the  ships  chartered  for  the  purpose. 

2d.  To  land,  free  of  charge,  at  the  ports  of  the  Republic. 

3d.  To  introduce,  free  of  duty,  the  jewels  for  personal  use, 
wearing  apparel,  necessary  household  furniture,  machines, 
agricultural  implements,  seeds,  portable  houses  for  their  own 
dwellings,  tools,  domestic  animals,  carts  for  their  own  use, 
and  victuals  for  six  months,  but  for  once  only. 

ART.  37. — The  Central  Bureau  and  the  home  agencies  shall 
render  their  services  to  the  immigrants,  in  guaranteeing  to 
them  the  fulfilment  of  their  contracts  for  employment. 

ART.  38. — In  order  to  grant  other  and  exclusive  privi- 
leges to  the  immigrants  who  may  for  the  present  come  to  the 
Republic,  they  shall  be  divided  into  three  classes  : 

i  st.  Immigrants  coming  voluntarily  and  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, attracted  merely  by  the  advantages  held  out  to  them 
by  this  law  and  by  the  country  itself. 

2d.  Immigrants  ordered  by  private  parties,  either  directly 
or  through  the  Society. 

3d.  Immigrants  engaged  by  the  Society,  with  the  purpose 
of  forming  agricultural  settlements,  or  hamlets,  on  designated 
localities. 

Those  forming  the  first  class  shall,  besides  the  general  privi- 
leges, have  a  right  to  demand  the  assistance  of  the  Society  in 
facilitating  the  acquisition  by  them,  on  easy  terms,  of  the  best- 
situated  lands,  and  also  of  the  materials,  seeds  and  domestic 
animals  they  may  need. 

Those  belonging  to  the  second  class,  when  ordered  by  the 
Society,  besides  the  general  advantages,  shall  be  entitled  to 
demand'  the  assistance  and  support  of  the  Society,  in  exact- 
ing the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  made  to  them  by  the  private 
parties  who  brought  them. 


IT 


They  shall  likewise  be  entitled  to  free  transportation  inland  ; 
to  be  lodged  by  the  agents  of  the  Society,  or  by  the  Central 
Bureau,  during  the  first  15  days  immediately  after  their 
arrival,  before  they  can  start  for  their  place  of  destination  ; 
and  to  free  medical  attendance,  in  case  of  sickness  while  at 
their  lodging-place,  from  the  physician  engaged  by  the  Cen- 
tral Bureau  or  the  agents  ;  and,  when  the  sickness  shall  re- 
quire it,  to  be  transferred  to  the  hospital,  where  they  shall 
receive  the  proper  care. 

The  immigrants  of  the  third  class,  besides  the  general  ad- 
vantages and  those  enumerated,  shall  have  a  right  to  claim 
one  or  more  lots  on  the  grounds  appropriated  by  the  Society 
to  this  object,  free  of  cost  if  they  are  public  lands,  or  payable 
on  the  terms  agreed  upon  in  the  contracts,  if  the  lands  belong 
to  the  Society  by  any  other  title. 

They  shall  also  have  the  right  to  be  supplied  with  the 
necessary  implements  for  their  labors,  with  oxen  and  other 
cattle,  with  seeds,  dwelling  houses,  and  in  some  cases  shall 
be  helped  with  money  and  victuals  during  a  time  to  be  fixed 
by  the  contracts. 

Finally,  they  shall,  during  ten  years,  be  exempted  from  the 
payment  of  export  duties  on  the  fruits  of  their  crops,  provided 
they  belong  to  them  exclusively,  and  shall  enjoy  all  the  privi- 
leges granted  by  Articles  50,  51  and  52. 

CHAPTER  V. 

OF   THE    HAMLETS   OR  AGRICULTURAL   SETTLEMENTS. 

ART.  39. — The  Society  of  Immigration  shall  have  power  to 
establish  hamlets  or  agricultural  settlements,  not  to  exceed  a 
hundred  families  each,  in  those  localities  which,  under  the 
favorable  conditions  of  good  climate  and  fertility,  shall  possess 
in  a  single  tract  a  sufficiently  large  extent  of  arable  land. 

Half  the  number  of  individuals  forming  these  settlements 
shall  be  foreign  immigrants,  and  the  other  half  natives  ;  these 


12 


latter  being  entitled  to  the  same  guarantees  and  privileges 
granted  by  this  law  to  the  former. 

ART.  40. — The  State  favors  the  establishment  of  these  agri- 
cultural settlements  or  new  hamlets,  with  the  purpose  of  hav- 
ing the  public  or  private  lands  cultivated,  or  of  introducing 
improved  systems  into  those  already  cultivated. 

ART.  4 1. —The  hamlets  or  agricultural  settlements  may  be 
established  on  public  lands,  given  away  gratuitously,  or  on 
private  lands  acquired  by  the  Society,  through  purchase  or 
otherwise, -by  means  of  special  contracts  in  each  case, 

ART.  42. — When  designating  and  granting  the  lands  to  be 
appropriated  to  the  agricultural  settlements,  all  roads,  bridges, 
watering  places,  customs,  municipal  titles,  and  all  other  pub- 
lic or  private  rights  sanctioned  by  law  shall  be  respected. 

•  ART.  43. — Forests,  timber  lands,  lands  covered  with  pines, 
firs,  mahogany,  cedar,  and  other  large  trees  shall  not  be  in- 
cluded in  the  above  grants. 

ART.  44. — Lands  covered  with  woods  of  small  growth, 
without  timber  trees,  or  with  only  scattered  trees,  may  be 
given  away  ;  but  the  companies  or  immigrants  shall  be  bound 
to  pay  their  price,  in  case  they  shall  fail  to  effect  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  agricultural  settlements,  and  the  former  shall 
be  required  to  give  the  proper  securities. 

ART.  45. — The  Guatemalean,  or  foreigner,  who,  in  his  name 
or  representing  a  firm,  may  wish  to  establish  a  hamlet  or  agri- 
cultural settlement,  shall  send  his  proposal  to  the  Society  of 
Immigration,  asking  for  the  allotment  of  the  lands,  subject  to 
a  previous  inspection  of  the  same,  with  a  detailed  specifica- 
tion of  the  site,  position,  nature,  and  other  features  of  the 
locality,  as  also  the  number  and  nationality  of  the  settlers, 
and  the  resources  they  possess  to  carry  out  the  undertaking. 

ART.  46. — The  allotment  of  the  public  lands  whereon  the 
agricultural  settlement  is  to  be  established  shall  be  made  at 


the  expense  of  the  Society,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  interested 
parties,  previous  demarcation  and  definition  of  rights  made 
in  the  presence  and  with  the  agreement  of  the  owners  of  con- 
tiguous lands. 

ART.  47. — The  free  concession  of  the  public  lands  to  the 
companies  or  the  immigrants,  when  it  be  made,  shall  be  pro- 
visional ;  but  they  shall  obtain  their  full  and  final  ownership 
on  their  fulfilment  of  the  conditions  of  the  concession,  and 
then  they  shall  receive  their  legalized  title. 

ART.  48. — If  the  stipulated  conditions  are  not  complied 
with  within  the  term  of  four  years,  the  concession  shall  be 
considered  null  and  void,  and  all  works  and  buildings  erected 
or  in  course  of  erection  shall  definitely  become  the  property 
of  the  State. 

ART.  49. — To  all  parties  wishing  to  form  an  agricultural 
settlement  shall  be  granted,  on  the  same  conditions,  a  tract  of 
land  equal  to  the  sixth  part  of  the  total  area  of  the  settlement. 

ART,  50. —  During  ten  years,  to  be  counted  from  the  date 
of  the  provisional  concession,  the  immigrants  settled  on  the 
public  lands  shall  not  pay  any  direct  tax  whatever,  and  they 
shall  likewise  be  exempt,  during  the  same  term,  from  any 
other  impost  or  personal  charge,  with  the  exception  of  the 
service  relative  to  highways,  which  they  shall  perform,  in 
accordance  with  the  law  now  in  force  relating  thereto. 

ART.  5 1 . — All  immigrants  settled  in  the  Republic  under 
this  law  shall  be  exempt  from  military  service. 

ART.  52. — They  shall  be  entitled  to  introduce,  free  of  duty, 
during  the  term  of  four  years,  the  instruments,  tools,  ma- 
chines and  other  implements  they  may  need  for  their  work. 

ART.  53. — The  agricultural  settlements  established  on  pri- 
^vate  property  or  on  the  lands  which  the  Society  may  have 
acquired  either  by  purchase  or  gift,  not  being  public  lands, 
shall  be  subjects  of  contracts  or  agreements  between  the 


14 

private  owners,  or  the  Society,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  the 
empresarios,  or  the  immigrants. 

ART.  54. — To  the  immigrants  settled  on  private  lands  or  on 
those  owned  by  the  Society,  shall  be  extended  all  the  exemp- 
tions contained  in  Articles  50,  51  and  52. 

ART.  55. — The  hamlets  or  agricultural  settlements  that 
may  be  established  shall  be  governed  according  to  the  laws 
of  the  Republic,  and  they  shall  have  power  to  organize  their 
municipalities  as  soon  as  they  come  under  the  conditions  re- 
quired by  law. 

ART.  56. — A  formal  renunciation  of  nationality  and  of  the 
rights  of  foreign  citizenship  must  precede  all  contracts 
making  free  concessions  of  lands  to  establish  hamlets  or  agri- 
cultural settlements,  which  renunciation  shall  be  made  at  the 
place  whence  may  immigrate  to  this  Republic  those  doing  so 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government  or  the  Society ;  and  the 
said  renunciation  shall  be  legalized  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  the  nation  to  which  such  immigrants  may  belong,  the 
same  to  be  ratified  before  the  Consuls  or  Consular  Agents  of 
the  Republic. 

ART.  57. — Foreigners  who  may  come  into  the  territory  of 
Guatemala  not  having  made  the  renunciation  aforesaid  at  the 
place  from  whence  they  started,  and  who  may  wish  to  obtain 
free  grants  of  land  and  the  other  benefits  conferred  by  this  law, 
shall,  before  obtaining  them,  make  the  renunciation  aforesaid, 
before  the  Minister,  Charg£  d' Affairs,  or  Consul  of  their  nation, 
the  same  to  be  ratified  before  the  chief  civil  officer  of  the  re- 
spective department ;  and  to  him  shall  be  presented  the  docu- 
ment containing  said  renunciation. 

ART.  58. — The  immigrants  settling  on  lands  whose  value 
they  must  pay,  and  all  other  immigrants,  shall  be  entitled  to 
choose  the  Gautemalean  nationality,  and  they  shall  be  granted" 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  upon  giving  proofs  of  their  good 
conduct. 


15 

ART.  59. — The  Consuls  and  other  Representatives  of  the 
Republic  in  foreign  countries  shall  have  the  present  decree 
translated  and  published  in  the  languages  of  the  countries  of 
their  residence. 

ART.  60. — All  prior  enactments  coming  in  conflict  with  the 
present  law  are  hereby  repealed. 

Given  in  the  National  Palace,  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 
February,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine. 

J.  RUFINO  BARRIOS. 


The  Minister  of  the  Interior, 

MANUEL  HERRERA. 

(Paithfvl  translation.} 


. 


